


Harry's 17th

by madpatmoo123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:21:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25206886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madpatmoo123/pseuds/madpatmoo123
Summary: The day of Harry's birthday, Fred and George convince the gang to continue the celebrations into the night.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Harry's 17th

Slowly pulling the door shut behind them, Harry followed Ron down the stairs, being careful to avoid the creaky steps. As they came to the floor below them, they met Hermione and Ginny, who, like the boys, were both wearing jumpers and joggers, with a blanket in each of their arms. 

Grinning at each other, Ginny whispered "Fred and George have already gone down, they're waiting for us in the garden."

They followed Ron down, Hermione holding onto the back of Harry's jumper after she tripped over her blanket and nearly fell down the remaining flights of stairs. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs and spilled into the kitchen, they paused, listening closely for any signs of life in the house. When all appeared calm, Ron eased the kitchen door open, and they all filed out, Ginny shutting the door behind them. Walking more freely now out of the house, they headed down towards the orchard, and found the twins waiting for them behind the broom shed. 

"You lot took ages, thought mum might've found you." Fred complained once they reached them, although he had a smile on his face.

"But then we remembered we'd have heard the shouting from here." George said, causing Ginny to let out a laugh. Hermione, however, looked worried. Fred noticed this, and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Hermione, it's the last night before the wedding. She has been stressing for weeks. I promise you, she is the most tired she has ever been, she will not be wasting her energy on anything less than Voldy coming to break the wedding up."

At this Hermione looked slightly relieved, and even let out a small giggle. 

"Right, come on," Ron said, looking disgruntled and shoving Fred forwards, away from Hermione. At this Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance, looking away before they could laugh. Suddenly feeling awkward, remembering their interrupted kiss earlier, Harry turned and followed the twins as they headed further towards the orchard. They came to stop shortly, with George saying, "Here's fine." 

The girls spread the blankets out, and they all began to sit down, facing each other in a circle. Fred plonked his rucksack in front of him and began pulling things out of it. The first was a stack of plastic cups, which he handed to Hermione, who was sat next to him. Taking her wand, she enchanted the six cups to lay out in front of Fred. He had removed two bottles of Firewhisky, as well as a bottle of Elderflower wine, from the bag. As he picked the bag up to put behind him, Harry heard the clunk of more bottles inside, and he and Ron grinned at each other. Hermione waved her wand again, and the Firewhisky bottle lifted and poured measures into each of the cups, which then floated gently around the group, waiting to be grabbed. 

"Well," George started, once everyone had a cup. "Happy birthday Harry!" 

"May you have an argument with the Minister for Magic every year!" Fred cried, before they all toasted to Harry. 

Feeling his cheeks warm with their attention on him, especially Ginny's, he mumbled a thank you, before taking a gulp of his Firewhisky. Everyone repeated his action, and he laughed when he saw Hermione's face twist as she swallowed her sip. 

"You might prefer the wine, Hermione, it's much sweeter." Fred said, as he had noticed the look on Hermione's face too. 

"Yeah, I think I'll have that next as well." Ginny said, although Harry noticed she had drunk much more of her Firewhisky than either he or Ron had. 

"Oi, you better pace yourself, Gin," George said from opposite her. "If you're hungover and look like death tomorrow I think mum will strangle you for ruining the aesthetic." 

"George, need I remind you that when you were fifteen you got so drunk at Christmas that you threw up under the bloody Christmas tree?" Ginny replied scathingly, earning a laugh from the rest of the group, while George grumbled under his breath and took another sip.

"Where did you get all the drink from anyway?" Harry asked, hoping to ward off an argument. 

"Not that we're complaining!" Ron interjected, his cheeks already tinged slightly pink. 

"There is so much alcohol for the wedding tomorrow. We figured they wouldn't notice a few bottles missing." George said, grinning cheekily. "Fleur's parents even bought six cases of the elderflower wine over from France!" 

"Anyway, we can just use a Re-Filling Charm if we run out." Fred chimed in. Harry nodded, remembering that he had used one when he had been attempting to retrieve Slughorn's memory. "Although, we don't know how much you lot drink, so we might not need one." 

Considering Harry had never really been drunk, this seemed fair. Looking at Ron, however, he could tell they were both thinking the same thing. They would be setting off on a seemingly impossible mission in potentially a few days, maybe even less. It would be nice to have one night to forget about the Horcruxes, and the Death Eaters and bloody Voldemort. Did they not deserve that? Raising his eyebrows at Ron, they both finished the rest of their drinks, and with a whoop, George re-filled their cups with a flick of his wand. Even Hermione was laughing with the twins infectious energy.

Soon enough, they boys had started on the second bottle of Firewhisky, and the girls had almost finished their bottle of wine. Their circle had gotten smaller, as they all moved closer to each other, and the blankets were damp with spilled drink. It was fair to say they were all drunk, Harry thought, as he watched Fred animatedly re-telling the time he and George had practised the Wronski Feint, and ended up accidentally diving straight into the rest of the Weasleys', who had been enjoying a picnic in the orchard. 

"My knee has never been the same." George said wistfully, giving it a pat, while Harry and Ginny collapsed into laughter, leaning against each other. He felt more aware than ever that he missed her as he felt her grip his arm as she shook with laughter. 

Reaching into the middle, Ginny picked up the bottle of wine, and tipped the remainder into her cup, before reaching into Fred's bag and pulling out another bottle. Unscrewing the new one, she filled Hermione's cup up, before turning to Harry, holding the bottle up in question. Quickly finishing the small sip of Firewhisky in his cup, he allowed Ginny to fill it back up with the Elderflower wine. He took a sip, and deciding he quite liked it then took another, bigger sip. Ginny laughed and he found himself joining in, although he wasn't completely sure why. 

"It was a false alarm!" Ron cried, emerging from behind a tree and staggering back to the group. Squeezing between Hermione and Fred, he threw his arms around their shoulders. "I wasn't sick in the end!" 

"You prat," Fred laughed, pushing Ron's arm off of his shoulders. Hermione's cheeks were tinged pink in a way that Harry, even in his drunken state, secretly thought had nothing to do with the drink. 

"Ah, I think it may be time for Ronniekins to go to bed." George teased, leaning over and pinching Ron's cheeks while Ron attempted to fight him off. This resulted in drinks getting spilt, and Fred got elbowed in the face by his twin. 

"Oi, you two, piss off." Ginny said, picking her now empty cup off the blanket and moving the bottles out the way before more damage was inflicted. 

Harry was leaning far back to avoid the craziness, and from this position, had a great of the Burrow in the distance. As he watched, a light appeared in one of the windows that faced the orchard. 

"Shit, guys, I think someone's awake." he told the rest, standing up, and the laughter and commotion stopped straight away. Fred stood up, telling them all to shut up, even though they had all fallen silent. 

"That's on mum and dad's floor," he said urgently, wobbling slightly as he stood. 

They all looked at each other, Harry and Fred standing while the others were still sat uncertainly on the floor. Within seconds there was a flurry of movements, as Hermione went to stuff all of the drinks and cups into the rucksack, although she was fumbling so badly that George took over. Ginny scrambled to her feet and pulled the blankets up, causing Ron, who was trying to stand up, to tumble back down again. Hermione grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet, and they all set off at a pace through the orchard. 

"Head to the edges of the garden, so we're not in full view," George whispered loudly to the group. "And just go straight in and shut your doors, even if we're not all back." 

Harry found himself grabbing Ginny's hand, and made to follow the rest. He felt himself being tugged back, and turning towards Ginny he saw that she had dropped the blankets. He bent down to help her pick them up, so that they held one each. When he stood back up, he pulled Ginny towards to the right side of the garden, hoping that keeping alongside the hedgerow would keep them hidden from anyone in the household. However, as they passed by the broom shed, she stopped him and pushed him slowly towards it. 

"Maybe we should wait here for a minute, to make sure that nobody's awake when we go back in?" she asked, although she had a look on her face that Harry definitely recognised. He turned slightly, so that he was the one pushing her towards the shed, throwing the blanket he was holding against the door of it. Ginny threw her blanket to the side as her back gently hit the outside wall of the shed. 

"I have been struggling to keep my hands off you since Ron interrupted us earlier." Harry said, one hand resting on Ginny's waist, one hand cupping the back of her neck with his thumb moving in gentle circles. Her hands came sliding up his back, before wrapping behind his neck and pulling him closer. 

"Bloody Ron." she murmured, before Harry closed the small gap between them and kissed her. It was like they were back in her room earlier in the day, desperate for more of each other. However, this time they had the freedom. Pressing closer to each other, he moaned as Ginny slid her hands under his jumper and t-shirt up over his bare back. He quickly reciprocated, fiddling with her bra clasp until he pulled it off and dropped it to the ground. 

"Always was a pro at that." Ginny said, and he could feel her smiling into their kiss. 

"Piece of cake." he replied, pulling her into the broom shed and grabbing a blanket off the floor before banging the door shut behind them. There was a clatter, followed by laughter, as several brooms got knocked over in their haste. 

Some time later, they emerged, Harry's hair sticking up even more than usual and Ginny's usually sleek hair looking distinctly rumpled. Picking up a blanket each, Harry reached for Ginny's hand, squeezing it slightly. They began their walk back up to the Burrow. 

"Well, it's definitely the most romantic place we've shagged." Ginny said sarcastically, leaning into him slightly. 

"Hey, what about that one night by the Great Lake?" Harry protested. 

"Harry, I'm pretty sure the Giant Squid was watching." she replied. 

"Yeah, and what a bloody show for him!" he said, making her laugh. 

They walked along in silence, savouring the last moments before entering the Burrow. Harry suddenly had a thought that made him go cold, and perhaps Ginny felt him stiffen, for she turned and looked at him. He worried that he would have to explain to her that this didn't change things, that they would have to remain broken-up, for her safety. However, one look at her and he knew that she understood straight away. She was smiling gently, and when she leaned up and kissed him, he felt that she knew, that she got him, perhaps like no one else did, and that there would be no need for any stumbling explanations. Relaxing into the kiss, he felt relieved that he would not have to break either of their hearts again. 

"God, I hope Ron's not awake." he said as they reached the back door. 

"I hope he's in your room, rather than in mine with Hermione." Ginny replied, shaking her head at the thought. 

Harry snorted, and they reached the back door of the house. Listening closely for any signs of life, Ginny gestured him through when all appeared quiet. 

"Think we got away with it." she whispered as she shut the door behind them. Taking their blankets, she went through to the living room to dump them, before returning to Harry who was still in the hallway. She started up the stairs, Harry following, until they got to her bedroom door. 

"Well, night," she said, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her, and her arms snaked around his waist, holding him tight. They stood like that for a minute, in the early morning peace of the Burrow, knowing tomorrow would be such chaos they may not even get the chance to talk. And then, after that, well. Harry knew it wouldn't be long now. 

Breaking away, Ginny yawned before opening her door, and then turned to wave goodnight. Harry felt a stupid smile break over his face, taking her in. His favourite memory of her, he thought. Ginny leaning against the door frame, slightly drunk and dishevelled, smiling that same smile that made him feel so light and happy. 

"Night." he whispered, watching her go in her room before turning to climb the stairs up to his and Ron's room. As he approached, he could hear Ron's snores through the door. Grinning as he settled himself into bed, he turned and fell into one of his rare, peaceful sleeps.


End file.
